Methods and arrangements in a mobile telecommunication system

ABSTRACT

Methods and arrangements in a base station and a User Equipment are provided. The methods and arrangements relates to the scenario when the UE is handed over from a source base station to a target base station in a handover scenario, and wherein the target base station may not support functionalities which the source base station and the UE support. The method in the UE comprises receiving ( 501 ) a configuration message from the target base station via the source base station, configuring ( 502 ) the UE based on the received configuration message from the target base station by searching ( 503 ) for a second field in an information element of the received configuration message. The presence/non-presence or a value of the second field is indicative of how to manage a configured first functionality associated with an optical first field, wherein the configured first functionality may not be supported by the target base station.

PRIORITY

This application is a continuation, under 35 U.S.C, § 120, of U.S.application Ser. No. 15/384,650 which is a continuation, under 35 U.S.C.§ 120, of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/607,584 which is a continuation,under 35 U.S.C. § 120, of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/497,838, filedMar. 23, 2012, which is a U.S. National Stage Filing under 35 U.S.C. §371 of International Patent Application Serial No. of PCT/SE2010/050611filed Jun. 3, 2010; which claims the benefit, under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a),of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/247,034, filed Sep. 30,2009, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to methods and arrangements in atelecommunication system, in particular to methods and arrangements foruse in networks comprising base stations, wherein the base stations mayhave different radio resource control capabilities.

BACKGROUND

The Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol in the 3GPP Long TermEvolution (LTE), also referred to as Evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN), is thesignaling protocol for configuring and re-configuring the radiointerface configuration of User Equipments (UEs), also called mobileterminals. The protocol is disclosed in the technical specificationdocument 3GPP TS 36.331.

The first release, Rel-8, of RRC (described in 3GPP TS 36.331) of LTEdeploys a solution where fields in Information Elements (IEs) can beomitted from a message. An IE consists of fields. Each field comprisesindividual content or a further IE which in turn comprises fields orfurther IE. In addition one message comprises a plurality of IEs asillustrated in FIG. 1. In the technical specification document 3GPP TS36.331 the IE and the field are defined as follows:

Information Element: A structural element containing a single ormultiple fields is referred as information element.

Field: The individual contents of an information element are referred asfields.

The use of the fields in the IEs may be optional. If a field in an IE isoptional, the UE behavior is typically specified for die case where thatfield is absent. One motivation for defining optional fields in messagesis to reduce or minimize the size of the signaling messages. A typicalsituation is the case when only parts of the User Equipment (UE)configuration are changed with a message whereas most of the UEconfiguration remains unchanged. Thus, it if often specified that aterminal shall continue with a specific function when the related field,which is optional in the message in question, is not present in areceived message.

An example of optional field is illustrated below where an IE comprisinga plurality fields is disclosed. The Channel Quality Indication (CQI) isconfigured with an Information Element called CQI-ReportConfig:

CQI-ReportConfig ::= SEQUENCE {  cqi-ReportModeAperiodicENUMERATED { rm12,rm20,rm22,rm30,rm31,  spare3,spare2,spare1} OPTIONAL -- Need OR nomPDSCH-RS-EPRE-Offset INTEGER (−1..6), cqi-ReportPeriodic CQI-ReportPeriodic OPTIONAL -- Need ON }

Within this IE, both cqi_ReportModeAperiodic and cqi-ReportPeriodic areboth optional fields, which is indicated with the syntax OPTIONAL above.

Therefore the UE behavior has to be specified when the optionalparameters are absent. This can be done by using the tags “Need OR” and“Need ON”, respectively, which specifies the UE behavior when theoptional parameters are not present. Need OR means that in case theinformation element is absent from a message, then the UE should stopusing/discontinue or delete any existing configuration or values thatwould otherwise be configured if the information element would bepresent. In contrast, with the tag Need ON, the absence of theinformation element means that the UE should continue to use the alreadyexisting values and associated functionality. Hereafter, the behaviourwhere the UE should keep the configuration and related functionalitywithout changing any parameters at times when an optional field ismissing, is called “Optional Continue”.

Also other conditions and functional behavior may be explicitlyspecified in the specification procedures, i.e. different behaviors canbe specified when an optional field is missing from a relevant message.For instance, also the IE CQI-ReportConfig is OPTIONAL in the IEPhysicalConfigDedicated. The IE PhysicalConfigDedicated is in turn“Optional Continue” in IE RadioResourceConfigDedicated, which in turn isoptional in the message RRCConnectionReconfiguration.RRCConnectionReconfiguration is the message sent from EUTRAN to a UE forconfiguring and re-configuring functionality and related parameters in aUE. Thus, the solution for “Optional Continue” is used in thespecification such that only those fields of relevance for the desiredreconfiguration need to be included in the IE of the message.

The aforementioned solution using “optional continues” is used, e.g., inintra-LTE mobility. This is also illustrated in FIG. 2. In thefollowing, for the case that a handover of a mobile terminal occurs froma first cell to a second cell, the first cell is denoted the Source Celland the second cell is denoted the Target Cell. Similarly, where cellsare controlled by different base-stations, this is denoted Source eNBand Target eNB, respectively. The eNBs are also referred to as basestations in this specification. The desire is to exchange only smallmessages between the UE and eNBs at handover. It can be assumed thatmany of the functionalities used in the Source Cell will remainunchanged in the Target Cell, and it would therefore be unnecessary toreconfigure all functionalities in the Target Cell.

Hence if the handover occurs between different eNBs, i.e. from a SourceeNB to a Target eNB, the Source eNB sends the full UE configuration tothe Target eNB at the preparation for the handover. The HANDOVER REQUESTmessage from the source eNB contains the RRC Context which includes theRRC HandoverPreparationInformation message as defined in 3GPP TS 36.331.The Target eNB may now, after decoding the received Access StratumContext, decide which parts of the UE configuration it finds acceptablewithout change, and which parts should be reconfigured. For example, itis likely that nearby base-stations operated by the same operator andpossibly manufactured by a single vendor prefer the same parameters thatdescribe periodic CQI reporting. In such a case, there is no need forthe Target eNB to send any updated configuration to the UE, since theTarget readily accepts this part of the present UE configuration.However, if it happens that the Target eNB implements a e.g. a differentRandom Access configuration compared to Source eNB, it may happen thatTarget needs to update some Random Access parameters of relevance in theUE.

Subsequently, the Target eNB sends in the HANDOVER REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGE a“Handover Command” using a RRCConnectionReconfiguration message, whichnow may include fields that are “Optional Continue”, such that the UEkeeps its current configurations to these parts if the correspondingfields are missing. It is thus possible to create a flexible protocolthat allows for reconfigurations, but where small message sizes can beprovided in case only specific parts of the configurable parts arereconfigured. Specifically, the solution is also applied at handover.

3GPP protocols are published in different releases. Functionality can bechanged between protocol releases and it is typical that new enhancedfunctionality is added into new protocol releases. For instance, afterthat Rel-8 of the E-UTRAN protocols is considered to be functionallystable, future changes will be added into Rel-9, Rel-10, and so on.

Typically, it is not possible to add non-backwards compatiblefunctionality and protocol extensions to a stable protocol, since thatcould result in malfunctioning of UEs and nodes already out in the fieldthat does not support such amendments. RRC is implemented using AbstractSyntax Notation One (ASN.1) by which messages can be extended in newreleases. Such extensions typically include parameters of relevance forthe functionality that is added in the later release. Both“non-critical” and “critical” extensions can be added.

A critical extension implies that a receiver of an earlier release ofsuch an extension will not understand the content of the message. Forexample, if a Rel-9 eNB sends a Rel-9 message to a Rel-8 UE, where themessage includes a critical extension, then the UE may fail to decodethe message.

A non-critical extension has the characteristic that a receiver of anearlier release may ignore the non-critical extension, but the receivermay still successfully decode the parts of the message that complieswith the earlier release. For example, if a Rel-9 eNB would send amessage to a Rel-8 UE, where the message includes a non-criticalextension, then the UE may still decode the parts of the message thatfollows the Rel-8 syntax. RRC Rel-8 includes placeholders in themessages and relevant IEs for such non-critical extensions. This hasbeen done in order to prepare for the extendibility of the RRC protocol.

It has been noted that the “optional continue” can cause a problem athandover for those cases where Source eNB and Target eNB implementdifferent protocol release versions. Suppose that the Target eNBimplements a protocol and functionality specified in Rel-8. Assumefurther that the Source eNB implements a later release with additionalfunctionality, e.g. Rel-9. It is further assumed that the addedfunctionality in the Rel-9 RRC protocol is added by using protocolextensions and that the UE is configured with the features associatedwith the new Rel-9 features. One problem related to this scenario occursif the aforementioned new information elements or fields in a laterrelease (e.g. Rel-9) are added using critical extensions, i.e. thesource eNB sends a Rel-9 HandoverPreparationInformation message to theTarget eNB, since the exemplified Rel-8 Target eNB may fail to decodethe Access Stratum Context message received in the handover preparationmessage. In such a case, the Target eNB may have to send a completere-configuration message to the UE in the “handover command”, as theTarget is unable to decode the configuration of the UE, i.e. Target eNBdoes not know what configuration the UE currently has. Thus, “OptionalContinue” would be impossible for the eNB of the previous release, andlarge handover messages would he needed. Another related problem occursif the aforementioned new information elements or fields in a laterrelease (e.g. Rel-9) are added using non-critical extensions. In thiscase, the exemplified Rel-8 Target eNB supporting a previous release maysuccessfully decode the parameters included in the previous release.However, the Target eNB will not understand the encoding of the laterrelease fields, and it would have to ignore those fields. Thus, thosefields would not be present in the “handover command”, since the TargeteNB would not know how to encode such fields.

The problem occurs in the later-release (e.g. Rel-9) UE that receivesthe “handover command”. If the principle of “Optional Continue” was tobe implemented for the new fields, then the UE should continue using theconfigured later-release features after handover without any change.However, in the example, the non-presence of these new fields was due tothe fact that the Target eNB did not comprehend those fields, and theTarget eNB does clearly not support the later release protocol features.Thus, a mismatch could occur, where the UE continues using functionalitythat the Target eNB does not implement, and severe protocol andfunctional errors could occur, since the communicating peer entities (UEand Target eNB) would assume different configurations.

SUMMARY

Consequently, none of the above described prior art solutions offer thepossibility to support the feature “Optional Continue” for newfunctionality added in a later release, or the possibility for anearlier release Target eNB to implement “optional continue” when theTarget eNB receives a configuration including fields of a later releasethat the Target eNB does not comprehend in part or completely. Asindicated above “Optional Continue” implies that the UE should keepconfiguration and related functionality associated with a later releasewithout changing any parameters at times when an optional field relatedto that functionality is missing.

It is therefore the purpose of the present invention to solve theaforementioned problems, and in particular, to provide a solution wherethe feature “Optional Continue” can be implemented for added protocolextensions in future releases of a signaling protocol, such that a userequipment can implement both “optional continue” and “discontinue,release” in the absence of the aforementioned protocol extensions in aneNB which the UE is connected to or is about to be connected to.

According to a first aspect, a method in a base station is provided. Thebase station is suitable for configuring a UE in a handover scenario,when the UE is handed over from a source base station to the basestation and wherein the base station does not support at least onefunctionality which the source base station and the UE support. In themethod, a HO request message is received from the source base stationcomprising at least a first field associated with a first functionalitynot supported by the base station. At least a portion of the received HOrequest message is decoded. Further, a reconfiguration message to beused to configure the UE to be handed over to the base station iscomposed. The composing comprises omitting insertion of the at least thefirst field, and inserting a second field. The second field beingindicative of how the UE should be configured in relation to the firstfunctionality, and the composed reconfiguration message is sent to theUE via the source base station.

According to a second aspect of the present invention a method in a UEis provided. The UE is configured to be handed over from a source basestation to a target base station in a handover scenario, wherein thetarget base station may not support functionalities which the sourcebase station and the UE support. In the method, a configuration messageis received from the target base station via the source base station,and the UE is configured based on the received configuration messagefrom the target base station. The configuration is achieved by searchingfor a second field in an information element of the receivedconfiguration message. The presence/non-presence or a value of thesecond field is indicative of how to manage a configured firstfunctionality associated with an optional first field, wherein theconfigured first functionality may not be supported by the target basestation.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a base station forconfiguring a UE in a handover scenario is provided. In the handoverscenario, the UE is handed over from a source base station to the basestation, wherein the base station is configured to not support at leastone functionality which the source base station and the UE support. Thebase station comprises a receiver configured to receive from the sourcebase station a HO request message comprising at least a first field ofassociated with a first functionality not supported by the base stationand a decoder configured to decode at least a portion of the received HOrequest message. The base station further comprises a processorconfigured to compose a reconfiguration message to be used to configurethe UE to be handed over to the base station. The processor is furtherconfigured to omit insertion of the at least the first field, and toinsert a second field wherein the second field being indicative of howthe UE should be configured in relation to the first functionality. Thebase station further comprises a transmitter for sending the composedreconfiguration message to the UE via the source base station.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a UE configuredto be handed over from a source base station to a target base station ina handover scenario is provided. The target base station may not supportfunctions which the source base station and the UE support. The UEcomprises a receiver configured to receive a configuration message fromthe target base station via the source base station. Further, the UEcomprises a processor configured to search for a second field in aninformation element of the received configuration message. Thepresence/non-presence or a value of the second field is indicative ofhow to manage a configured first functionality associated with anoptional first field, wherein the configured first functionality may notbe supported by the target base station.

An advantage of embodiments of the present invention is that they makeit possible to implement “Optional Continue” for configurationsassociated with optional fields, when the optional fields are absent,wherein the optional fields are related to said configurations such thatsmall messages can be supported.

At the same time, it is possible to implement yet another case, i.e.that the receiver disables the associated features at times ofnon-presence of the optional fields, where the non-presence may becaused by the fact that the transmitter supports a previous release ofthe protocol, where the optional fields and related functionality arenot yet supported.

Thus, embodiments of present invention allow small reconfigurationmessages in future protocol releases and support compatibility betweennodes in a heterogeneous network with nodes supporting differentreleases.

Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention willbecome apparent from the following detailed description of the inventionwhen considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a message comprising information elements accordingto prior art.

FIG. 2 illustrates a mobility scenario according to prior art.

FIG. 3 illustrates a mobility scenario.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate flowcharts of methods according to embodimentsof the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates arrangements for performing the methods as describedin the embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention will be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodimentsof the invention are shown. The invention may, however, be embodied inmany different forms and should not be construed as limited to theembodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided sothat this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fullyconvey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In thedrawings, like reference signs refer to like elements.

Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the means andfunctions explained herein below may be implemented using softwarefunctioning in conjunction with a programmed microprocessor or generalpurpose computer, and/or using an application specific integratedcircuit (ASIC). It will also be appreciated that while the presentinvention is primarily described in the form of methods and devices, theinvention may also be embodied in a computer program product as well asa system comprising a computer processor and a memory coupled to theprocessor, wherein the memory is encoded with one or more programs thatmay perform the functions disclosed herein.

It should be noted that the embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed in the context of an LTE network, but it should be noted thatthe invention is applicable in any system having base stations ofdifferent releases.

The following detailed description describes embodiments of the presentinvention illustrated by means of specific examples. In the examples itis assumed that a handover of a User Equipment (UE) shall be executedfrom a first base station to a second base station also referred tosource base station and target base station, respectively. It shouldalso be noted that the base stations are referred to as eNBs as theembodiments below are described in conjunction with LTE. The first eNBcomprises at least a functionality supporting a certain UE configurationwhich is not comprised in the second eNB. In the description below thisis described as the first eNB is of later release than the second eNB.The later release is exemplified as LTE Rel-9 and the release of thesecond eNB is exemplified as LTE Rel-8. Further, the UE is configuredwith new functionality which is not supported in LTE Rel-8. The newfunctionality is associated with a first field of an Information Element(IE) of a message according to the Rel-9 signaling protocol. The newfunctionality may also be characterized by multiple such first fields ofan Information Element of a message. It should be understood that theexample is equally valid to any scenario, where the Source eNB and theUE support functionality not yet supported by the Target eNB.

Examples of the new functionalities are channel quality indication (CQI)reporting features, timer handling, carrier aggregation, enhanced DRX,relaying, coordinated multi-point transmission and reception, and anyother feature that may be included in a future release of the protocol.

According to embodiments of the present invention with reference to FIG.3, the Source eNB 310 sends 301 a message 330 to the Target eNB 312,where the message 330 comprises an information element (IE) 320 which inturn comprises a first field 322 related to a UE configuration supportedby the Source eNB 310 but not supported by the Target eNB 312. The IE320 further comprises other UE configurations supported by both theSource and the Target eNB. In this example, the first field is encodedas non-critical release 9 extensions. The UE configuration is typicallytunneled or embedded in a “Handover Request” message from the Source eNB310 to the Target eNB 312. The Target eNB 312 is able to decode themessage, except the non-critical extensions, which the Target eNB 312ignores. Since the Target eNB 312 does not support the UE configurationassociated with the first field the Target eNB 312 omits the first fieldwhen creating 302 the reconfiguration message to be sent to the UE 314via the Source eNB 310. Instead, the Target eNB may add a flag oranother indication in a second field where it is indicated that theTarget eNB does not support the UE configuration which is supported bythe UEs and eNBs of later releases by e.g. telling the UE to stop usingthat UE configuration.

According to further embodiments the Target eNB indicates to the UE inthe second field the current release which is supported by the targetbase station and/or the RRC functionalities that the target base stationsupports.

Subsequently, the Target eNB 312 now sends 303 a handover command using,e.g., an RRCConnectionReconfiguration message, where this message isencoded according to the release supported by the Target eNB 312. ThisRRC Connection reconfiguration message is addressed to the UE, and it istypically tunneled or embedded in a Handover Confirm message from theTarget eNB to the Source eNB. The Reconfiguration message is typicallypassed unmodified, i.e. transparently, via the Source eNB. Thus, it isthe Target eNB that takes the responsibility for configuring the UE in away that is suitable for the Target eNB, once the Handover is completed.

Hence, the message received at the UE does not include the first fieldrelated to the configuration not supported by the Target eNB. Accordingto the present invention the UE detects 304 the flag of the second fieldand then the UE understands that the UE should release thatconfiguration if the first field is omitted. Since the UE supports thelater release of the protocol compared to the Target eNB, the UE willknow from the standard description how to behave with the aforementionedlater-release feature when the flag of the second field is included inthe Handover message.

From a UE perspective, the UE does not know which release the Target eNBsupports. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the UEcan distinguish between the following two cases if the first field wouldbe omitted in a reconfiguration message:

(1) The Target eNB requests the UE to continue with the UE configurationassociated with the omitted field;

(2) The Target eNB, does not support the UE configuration associatedwith the omitted field, and instructs accordingly the UE should stopusing that UE configuration.

In said method according to embodiments of the present invention, the UEreceives the reconfiguration message e.g. in the handover command thatdoes not include the first field related to the new functionality. Thefirst field is thus encoded as optional. However, in order to deducewhat actions the UE should take now, when the first field is notpresent, the UE checks the presence or a value of a second field. Thissecond field is typically also encoded as optional.

If said second field is present or has a specific value, the UE takes afirst action in relation to the functionality associated with the fieldsrelated to the new functionality. If said second field is not present orhas another specific value, the UE takes a second action in relation tothe new functionality associated with the fields. As an example of afirst action in case the second field is present, which indicates thatthe Target eNB does not support the associated UE configuration, the UEmay be configured to discontinue with the associated UE configuration.This may imply that a parameter fullConfig is inserted in the secondfield. As an example of a second action in case the second field is notpresent, which indicates that the Target eNB does support the associatedfunctionality, the UE is configured to continue using the functionalityassociated with the first field.

The second field above may be included in the same IE or in a differentIE as the first field associated with the functionality which the targetbase station may not support. An example of an IE where the second fieldcan be included is the MobilityControl IE in the RRC protocol. Theaforementioned searching performed by the UE of the presence or value ofthe second field upon detection that the first field is missing may beperformed at handover, i.e. that the UE decides between taking the firstor the second action only if the message is a message that triggers ahandover. Thus, the MobilityControl IE is one conceivable example ofwhere the second field could be included, and if should be understoodthat in other embodiments any IE in the HO command, which is notdirectly associated with the new functionality in question could beused. As explained above, the indication in the second field could be anindication to the UE to continue with previously configuredfunctionality within a certain set of new functionality, if thecorresponding configuration information is absent in the HO command,i.e. when the first field is omitted. Such a set of new functionalitycould be defined as the new functionality introduced within a specificrelease of the specification or a more specifically defined group offunctionality. For example, if a UE is configured according to a releaseN+4, but the target eNB only supports release N+2, the new functionalityintroduced in every release could be grouped, such that the UE,depending on the value or presence of the second field, is instructed tocontinue with parts of the new functionality, and discontinue with partsof other new functionality. In this example, the UE could be instructedto discontinue the use of any functionality introduced after releaseN+2, but to continue with all new functionality introduced before N+2.Thus, new functionality that is subject to the aforementioned evaluationin the UE could be grouped in every release. This indication could berealized with a separate second field per release, or with a secondfield that can take multiple values.

To summarize a method in a base station according to embodiments of thepresent invention is provided. The base station is configured to act asa target base station in a handover scenario, when a UE is handed overfrom a source base station to the target base station and wherein thetarget base station does not support at least one function which thesource base station and the UE support.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, a HO request message is received 401 from thesource base station comprising at least a first field of an informationelement associated with a first functionality, e.g. an RRCfunctionality, not supported by the target base station. The Target basestation decodes 402 at least a portion of the received HO requestmessage, and composes 403 a reconfiguration message to be used toconfigure the UE to be handed over to the target base station. Thecomposing 403 comprises omitting 404 insertion of the at least the firstfield, and inserting 405 a second field. The second field indicates howthe UE should be configured in relation to the first functionality. Thebase station then sends 406 the composed reconfiguration message to theUE via the source base station.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the indication inthe second field how the UE should be configured in relation to thefirst functionality indicates to the UE to discontinue using the firstfunctionality not being supported by the target base station. Anotherpossibility is that the indication in the second field indicates to theUE the current release which is supported by the target base stationand/or the functionalities that the target base station supports.

Furthermore, a method in a UE is provided as illustrated in FIG. 5. TheUE is configured to be handed over from the source base station to thetarget base station in a handover scenario and wherein the target basestation may not support functionalities, e.g. RRC functionalities, whichthe source base station and the UE support. The UE receives 501 aconfiguration message from the target base station via the source basestation and configures 502 the UE based on the received configurationmessage from the target base station. The configuration is performed bysearching 503 for a second field in an information element of thereceived configuration message. The presence/non-presence or a value ofthe second field is indicative of how to manage a configured firstfunctionality associated with an optional first field, wherein theconfigured first functionality may not be supported by the target basestation.

The value of the second field may be presence or non-presence of a flag,wherein the flag may be a fullConfig flag.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the presence of thesecond field or the flag indicates to the UE to discontinue using thefirst functionality and the non-presence of the second field or the flagindicates to the UE to continue using the first functionality. Further,the value of the second field may indicate to the UE the current releasewhich is supported by the target base station and/or the functionalitiesthat the target base station supports.

Turning now to FIG. 6 illustrating a base station 600 for configuring aUE 620 in a handover scenario, when the UE 620 is handed over from asource base station to the base station 600. The base station 600 isconfigured to not support at least one functionality which the sourcebase station and the UE 620 support. The base station 600 comprises areceiver/transmitter and other RF functionality for communicating withUEs the base station is also configured to communicate with other basestations. In addition processing units required for functionalities notrelevant for the invention are omitted from the drawings and thespecification.

The base station 600 comprises a receiver 601 configured to receive ahandover (HO) request message from the source base station comprising atleast a first field of an information element associated with a firstfunctionality not supported by the base station. The base station 600comprises further a decoder 602 configured to decode at least a portionof the received HO request message, depending on if the HO requestmessage is decoded with critical or non-critical extensions to a releaseof a protocol which the target base station does not support. The basestation further comprises a processor 603 configured to compose areconfiguration message to be used to configure the UE to be handed overto the target base station. Also, the processor 603 is furtherconfigured to omit insertion of the at least the first field, and toinsert a second field, wherein the second field being indicative of howthe UE should be configured in relation to the first functionality.Further the base station comprises a transmitter 604 configured to sendthe composed reconfiguration message to the UE via the source basestation.

Thus the base station according to embodiments of the present inventionmay be a base station having the functionalities of a LTE release 8 withthe addition of the mechanisms provided by the embodiments of theinvention as defined above.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, the UE 620 comprises a receiver/transmitter621 and other RF functionality for communicating with the network. Inaddition processing units required for functionalities not relevant forthe invention are omitted from the drawings and the specification.According to the present invention the UE 620 comprises a receiverconfigured to receive a configuration message from the target basestation via the source base station. A processor 622 in the isconfigured to search for a second field in an information element of thereceived configuration message. The presence/non-presence or a value ofthe second field is indicative of how to manage a configured firstfunctionality associated with an optional first field, wherein theconfigured first functionality may not be supported by the target basestation.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the processor isconfigured to interpret the presence of the second field or the flag asto discontinue using the first functionality. Further, the processor maybe configured to interpret non-presence of the second field or the flagas to continue using the first functionality.

It should also be noted that the processor may be configured tointerpret the value of the second field as the current release which issupported by the target base station and/or the RRC functionalities thatthe target base station supports.

According to a further alternative to solve the problem associated withnetworks comprising base station of different releases, the Source eNBmay send a handover preparation message to the Target eNB, such that themessage includes at least two alternative representations of the AccessStratum Configuration of a UE. The messages are encoded such that theTarget eNB can decode at least one of the representations of the AccessStratum Configuration, irrespectively of the release of the Target eNB.Specifically, one of the encoded representations of the Access StratumConfiguration may be encoded according to a first version of theprotocol, and another encoded representation of the Access StratumConfiguration may be encoded according to another version of theprotocol. The other version of the protocol may now include criticalextensions in the message or IE representing the Access StratumConfiguration.

This mechanism of including multiple representations ensures that theTarget eNB always receives one representation that it can decode,independently of the release that the Target eNB supports, and criticalextensions of the protocol can now be included in IEs describing the ASContext in future releases of the protocol. The Target eNB then selectsone of the encoded representations of the Access Stratum Configuration,based on which it encodes a handover command that it sends in anRRCConnectionReconfiguration message.

The UE can then, based on the encoding of theRRCConnectionReconfiguration message or IEs in the message from thetarget eNB, sent via the source eNB, deduce whether it should apply thefirst action or the second action in relation to new functionality.Specifically, if the message includes a specific critical extensionassociated with new functionality, the UE may apply a first action, andif the message does not include a specific critical extension associatedwith the new functionality, the UE may apply a second action. The firstaction above may be to continue using new functionality, and the secondaction may be to stop using new functionality. Thus, by detecting themethod of encoding the aforementioned message, the UE can deduce if thetransmitting entity, e.g. the Target eNB, supports specificfunctionality and what actions should be taken based on that.

As explained above, it is proposed to send (at least) tworepresentations of the current UE configuration to the target eNB, onebased on a “fall back” version of the protocol, and one criticallyextended version supporting the full UE configuration. In thisspecification, LTE Rel-8 is exemplified as the “fall back” version.

However in a future, where for instance LTE Rel-9 and LTE Rel-10 arereadily implemented in both the source and the target eNB, it might bedesirable not having to send a long range of “fall back” alternativesjust because the precise state of the peer is not known. Hence in afurther embodiment it is “negotiated” between the source and the targeteNBs when establishing the X2 link to determine which version of theprotocol to use. This could be realised, e.g., if each node indicates tothe other up to which version of the protocol it supports. The twoentities provide thus at least one commonly supported version as the“fall back” version. A first eNB may request information the releaseversion supported by a second eNB. Based on the knowledge of the releaseversion of the Target eNB, a Source eNB may now decide to submit anAccess Stratum Configuration that the Target comprehends. Still, alsowith the different embodiments related to the solution of sendinginformation between the eNBs concerning the current UE configurationencoded according to different protocol versions, there is a need for anindication by which the UE decides how to act when optional fields orIEs of a later release protocol are not present in a message.

Modifications and other embodiments of the disclosed invention will cometo mind to one skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachingspresented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings.Therefore, it is to be understood that the invention is not to belimited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications andother embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of thisdisclosure. Although specific terms may be employed herein, they areused in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes oflimitation.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method in a base station for configuringa user equipment, UE, in a handover scenario, when the UE is handed overfrom a source base station to the base station and wherein the basestation does not support at least one functionality which the sourcebase station and the UE support, the method comprises: receiving, at thebase station from the source base station, a handover, HO, requestmessage comprising at least a first field associated with a firstfunctionality not supported by the base station, decoding at least aportion of the received HO request message, composing a reconfigurationmessage to be used to configure the UE to be handed over to the basestation, wherein the composing comprises: omitting insertion of the atleast the first field, and inserting a second field, the second fieldbeing indicative of how the UE should be configured in relation to thefirst functionality, and sending the composed reconfiguration message tothe UE via the source base station.
 2. The method according to claim 1,wherein the first functionality not supported by the base station is atleast one of channel quality indication, CQI, reporting features, timerhandling, carrier aggregation, enhanced discontinuous reception,relaying, and coordinated multi-point transmission and reception.
 3. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the indication in the second fieldhow the UE should be configured in relation to the first functionalityindicates to the UE to discontinue using the first functionality notbeing supported by the base station.
 4. The method according to claim 1,wherein the indication in the second field how the UE should beconfigured in relation to the first functionality indicates to the UEthe current release which is supported by the base station.
 5. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the indication in the second fieldhow the UE should be configured in relation to the first functionalityindicates to the UE functionalities that the base station supports. 6.The method according to claim 1, wherein the indication in the secondfield is presence or non-presence of a flag.
 7. The method according toclaim 6, wherein the flag is a fullConfig flag.
 8. A base station forconfiguring a user equipment, UE, in a handover scenario, when the UE ishanded over from a source base station to the base station and whereinthe base station does not support at least one functionality which thesource base station and the UE support, the base station comprising: areceiver; a transmitter; and processing circuitry coupled to thereceiver and the transmitter, the processing circuitry configured to:receive, at the base station from the source base station, a handover,HO, request message comprising at least a first field associated with afirst functionality not supported by the base station; decode at least aportion of the received HO request message; compose a reconfigurationmessage to be used to configure the UE to be handed over to the basestation, wherein the processing circuitry configured to compose thereconfiguration message comprises processing circuitry configured toomit insertion of the at least the first field, and insert a secondfield, the second field being indicative of how the UE should beconfigured in relation to the first functionality; and send the composedreconfiguration message to the UE via the source base station.
 9. Thebase station according to claim 8, wherein the first functionality notsupported by the base station is at least one of channel qualityindication, CQI, reporting features, timer handling, carrieraggregation, enhanced discontinuous reception, relaying, and coordinatedmulti-point transmission and reception.
 10. The base station accordingto claim 8, wherein the indication in the second field how the UE shouldbe configured in relation to the first functionality indicates to the UEto discontinue using the first functionality not being supported by thebase station.
 11. The base station according to claim 8, wherein theindication in the second field how the UE should be configured inrelation to the first functionality indicates to the UE the currentrelease which is supported by the base station.
 12. The base stationaccording to claim 8, wherein the indication in the second field how theUE should be configured in relation to the first functionality indicatesto the UE functionalities that the base station supports.
 13. The basestation according to claim 8, wherein the indication in the second fieldis presence or non-presence of a flag.
 14. The base station according toclaim 13, wherein the flag is a fullConfig flag.